A husband was having difficulty talking with his wife. He thought that she was becoming hard of hearing. So, he decided to conduct a test without her knowing about it. So, one evening he sat in a chair on the far side of the room. Her back was to him so she could not see him. Very quietly he whispered, “Can you hear me?” There was no response. Moving a little closer, he asked again, “Can you hear me now?” Still was no reply. Quietly he edged closer and whispered the same words, but still no answer. Finally he moved right behind her and said, “Can you hear me now?” To his surprise she responded in very irritated tone, “What in the world is wrong with you, for the fourth time I said yes!”

This humorous story illustrates for us that sometimes we can be very critical of others when it is actually we that have the problem. However we are so quick to leap to judgement we don’t even consider it could be me. Don’t leap to judgment that is the title of today message from James chapter 4.

Abraham Lincoln once said,” He has the right to criticize who has the heart to help.” Many will criticize others to cover up for the same faults in their own lives. It happens because we typically judge others more harshly in the areas where we ourselves are the weakest. We can be in denial about our faults. In this passage James is talking about the sin of defaming others and passing judgement. We can be quick to defame and to pass judgement. The dictionary defines “defamation of character,” which is a familiar term in our society, as an attack on the reputation of someone by publishing falsely and maliciously things that slander and injure.”

We have judging others down to a science. Somewhere along the way, we have forgotten that judging others with a critical spirit is disobeying the Lord. All too often we are the salt of the earth all right, rubbed right into the wounds of the people of the earth. Too often when confronted by someone else’s mistakes, we leap to judge them.

Jesus addressed this issue in the Sermon on the Mount. He was dealing with something that every person must confront. We must confront it in others, and we must confront it in ourselves. That is having a negative, critical, judgmental attitude because it runs counter to Christ’s mandate to judge not, that ye be not judged in Matthew 7:1. Let’s begin with point #1

I. Guard Against Slander vv. 11a.

1. James in our text expounds on the teaching of his half-brother our Savior, Jesus Christ. The command is very clear in verse 11. “Speak not evil one of another, brethren.” Do not speak evil one of another nor past judgement upon a brother. The exhortation is twofold; don’t slander and don’t past judgement.

2. Remember all through this epistle James is giving us tests of saving faith, tests of genuine faith.  Getting right with God must result in our getting right with other people. When we are right with other people, it will show in the way we talk about them. So we must not speak evil of one another and not judge our brother.

Now listen very carefully to what I am saying.

3. So this command here, “Speak not evil one of another brethren,” has nothing to do with exposing sin with righteous intent. It has to do with lying with malicious intent. That’s a big difference, wouldn’t you say? The verb here, “speaking evil,” is kä-tä-lä-le’-ō / Cot – ta- la- lay -o and is a very interesting word in the Greek. Katalalia is the sin of those who meet in corners and gather in little groups and pass on confidential information which destroys the good name of those who are not there to defend themselves.” 

So, katalaleo Cot – ta- la- lay -o implies the absence of the person being spoken against, which always fascinates me because it implies defaming a person who isn’t there to defend himself, hence the term “backbiting“. You are biting them in the back, they can’t even see what’s going on they are not even able to defend themselves.

Illustration:

A pastor was told that they were going to discuss his ministry and present the things that are wrong with his ministry at another church. So he called this church and said, “I understand that this evening you’re going to have a discussion about me. I just want you to know that I’d be more than happy to be there and answer any questions that anyone would have. The reply was, “Absolutely not. We could never allow that.” — See that would spoil their party because the whole thing thrives on the absence of the person being slandered. This sin is wrong for two reasons. First, it breaks the royal law that we should love one another. Second, it takes a right of judgment that only God has. Folks, that’s what James is talking about, second…

II. Guard against Judging others vv. 11b.

1. The word “judge” krino/ krē’-nō has a variety of meanings in the scriptures and is used in seven different ways. The word “judge” can mean: To weigh carefully and form an opinion – 1 Corinthians 10:15, 11:13 / to assume or draw a conclusion – Luke 7:43 / to regard or account as so – Acts 16:15 / To try before a court – John 18:31 / To condemn – John 7:51.

2. What James is rebuking in these verses is judgment that is: intrusive. Intruding into the affairs of others and making judgments in matters that do not pertain to us is strictly forbidden in the Scriptures. Judging presumptuously occurs when we treat mere suspicions or unconfirmed rumors as though they were fact. We judge presumptuously when we assume to know the motives of another.

The Bible speaks to this very clearly that the way you judge others will become the way you will be judged.

  Judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment. — John 7:24

Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. — Galatians. 6:7

3. We are not to play judge, that how he concludes this section. We will be judged by the same standards with which we judge others. If we hold others to an exceptionally high standard of morality, yet we ourselves live by a lower standard, we will be judged, not by the standard we live by, but by the standard we expect others to live by. Again I want to say, it doesn’t mean you don’t point out sin when sin is there.

It doesn’t mean you don’t discipline when discipline is called for. What it does mean is you don’t lie, and you don’t gossip, and you don’t backbite and you don’t slander and you defame their character maliciously. James concludes this little section with a question preface with a striking truth. God is judge!

There is one lawgiver, who is able to save and to destroy: who art thou that judgest another? James 4/12

Conclusion:

James reminds his readers and us of this very same truth we are not the judge of all the earth. So we have no right to slander someone, to assign to them condemnation as if God was operating through us and we don’t play God in judgment.